how do you beat depression?

[tleilaxu]

nt.

[SpikeyFreak]

I stopped taking the meds that were causing it.

Too bad I didn't know they were causing it or I could have stopped sooner.

--Lucky Spikey

[Lady Fury]

Depression is hard to beat. Especially if you can't take antidepressants. Antidepressants make me psychotic. The way I beat it was to surround myself with things I love. I started by talking to someone close to me about what was bothering me. For me, talking is very therapeutic. Now if you aren't a talker then it may be a little harder to get out of the funk of depression. Either way you need to find something that truly makes you feel good and pursue it.

The worst thing you can do when depressed is to close yourself off from everyone and everything you love.

[Ancalagon]

exercise is a huge help

[Pigs in Space]

what does nt mean? Is it caused by old versions of windows?

I'd suggest you update to xp at least.

exercise is a huge help

Word up. I get numb mind and body from work, and after the gym I feel a lot better.

Also, there is endorphins?

[Harry]

Take up airplane modeling.

hth

[Black Angel]

Medication isn't necessarily suitable for everyone, but it's something that you could consider. Talking to a good doctor is something I would recommend regardless of whether you decide to go down the medication path or not. Counselling has also been shown to be as effective as medication for most people, but then not everyone has the time/money/inclination to go down that road. You need to work out what is best for you, everyone is an individual. :)

[Name Lips]

This is my post on depression. I posted it before, but I don't remember if it was on these boards or not:



Honestly, I've been a lot better recently. I was really, really depressed for about a month last November, and a lot of my thoughts and descriptions are coming from that period. I can still slip into it really easily if I think about it too much. But at this point I can shrug it off by getting up and doing things. Back when it was deepest, I couldn't shrug it off for anything. It was all-consuming.

Thinking back on that month, though, the strangest part was a sort of feeling of enlightenment. I felt very much as though I had stripped away the facade of life and realized the truth - and the truth was that everything was futile. People who were happy, it seemed, had simply mastered self-deception and selective ignorance. To be exposed to truth, to accept things as they really were, to see clearly - that was depression. That's part of what people don't understand when they try to give advice to depressed people - they don't understand that the depressed person feels like he can see perfectly clearly. He feels like his level of understanding has transcended what the other person can comprehend, that his perspective is from a greater elevation, and the non-depressed person is being utterly simplistic and foolish. Their perspective seems horribly narrow, while yours is so broad it brings in all of reality.

When it finally broke - and I use the term "broke" exactly like you use the term for a fever breaking - it was like being suddenly washed in cold water. Or swimming for a long time in the dark depths of the ocean and finally reaching the point at which I could once again see sunlight. But being at the depth where you can see sunlight is still a far cry from flying. I'm no longer in the depths, but I still dream of flying.

Like I said, it's really easy to slip back into the enlightenment of ultimate futility, but I'm no longer trapped there. I'm at a point where I can rationalize what I'm doing and pull myself out of it. And at this point it's frightening thinking back to the month when I couldn't do that. It's almost like the enlightenment of depression was correct - humans need a thin veneer of self deception to protect them from the emptiness of truth. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It keeps us functioning, keeps us sane.

I'm kind of waxing emo here, but I'm trying to explain it from the point of view of somebody who's been there and managed to shake it off. And imagine, that I was only deeply depressed for one month. There are people who've been like that for years. I have nothing but sympathy for them, because I know what it's like and I know there's no rational argument to convince them to enter a different state of mind. I still don't know how I did it - I know exactly when it happened and what I was doing - but I have no idea how to get anybody else to do it. Some people resort to drugs to fend it off, but I think you're right when you say that's not a real solution. Whatever was causing it is still there, just hidden. It's like cold medicine that masks the symptoms, but doesn't actually cure what's causing them.

[there_is_no_bob]

Step 1:Tell a doctor.


Step 2:
Drugs, time, people, sleep, success, meaningful occupation, physical activity, identifying the thoughts/feelings that are depression working at maintaining itself and which are actual things that need to be addressed, eating properly.

[Cat of Ulthar]

Wow, Name Lips. That was scarily recognisable. I thought I could not get better, because there was no better, everything was shit and I had simply not seen it before. Fortunately I realised I had to get better or I would kill myself to stop the pain, and that would not be fair on my loved ones.

Tleilaxu, there is no one answer to getting out of depression. Some things work for some people, and it takes time and dedication (huh, just the thing depressed people don't have) to work out what works for you. For some it's exercise, as that releases endorphins that make you feel better. For some it's some form of therapy to release whatever is making you feel shit. For some it's medication to up the brain chemicals. For some it's rearranging their life to focus more on the things they value. Sometimes it's a combination of those things.

The most important thing as others have mentioned, is don't try and stick it out alone. Get help. Tell your doctor and have him refer you to a therapist, or put you on medication. And don't be afraid to lean on your loved ones for support; they won't think you are weak, you would do the same for them if they were feeling bad, wouldn't you? Just knowing you are no longer facing it alone can be some support.

Good luck mate. You can beat it.

[Ink Bleeder]

For me, it's exercise and counseling. Journaling keeps me sane and helps me work through those awful thought-spirals. And I'll give you the best advice I ever received for combating loneliness and depression: just say yes. Whenever someone asks you to coffee or whatever, you say YES. Doesn't matter how much you think you'll hate it and wish yourself elsewhere - accept all invitations to get out of the house and circulate. It works.

[Limper]

Tequilla shots.

[Schizm]

Drugs & counseling.

[The Theocrat of Poon-Tang]

I stopped taking the meds that were causing it.

Too bad I didn't know they were causing it or I could have stopped sooner.

--Lucky Spikey

My wife had a similar experience after the birth of our daughter. She had some postpartem depression and the doctor prescribed Zoloft. It made her many times worse, and fortunately she was canny enough to realize that.

[shiningbrow]

I don't know.

[Trainz]

My wife had a similar experience after the birth of our daughter. She had some postpartem depression and the doctor prescribed Zoloft. It made her many times worse, and fortunately she was canny enough to realize that.

So did my wife with her first kid. But she knew what to expect, so it wasn't too bad.

Weren't you supposed to change your username?

[Space Cadet B^3]

For me, it came from a simple realization: "The only person who can make my life better, is me."

Then I detoxed for a month, started exercising regularly and felt a lot better. I need to reup my exercise regimen again though.

Or figure out how to fall out of love. LOL

[Kilmore]

If you're working, take a day off. If you're not working, do something.

[Pigs in Space]

Tequilla shots.

Followed by Furious Masturbation.

[doc]

Followed by Furious Masturbation.

Followed by more depression

[Space Cadet B^3]

and chafing...

[Ancalagon]

This is my post on depression. I posted it before, but I don't remember if it was on these boards or not:

Name Lips - impressive post. It is true that there is a lot of *bad* stuff most people ignore. But this clarity of vision that depression brings isn't 100% real - because it is very good at ignoring GOOD things.

A lot in life is about perspective. I could write a paragraph that made my last 12 years look like a big failure... or a success story. Both versions are true! So if I can chose which one I want to adopt, why not take the one that makes me happy?

[Trainz]

I would not really suggest the following course, because it sounds risky, and I'm lucky enough to not have to deal with depression so I might not understand it fully, but...

... what about not resisting the depression, letting it take hold of yourself completely, and THEN it *might* be easier (and more permanent) to climb back up.

Just a thought, I have almost NO psychological background (one semester of university in psychology...), but it might be what behaviorism would suggest*.


* behaviorism has been known to be a very risky school of psychology, giving fast results, but at the most elevated risk of all psychology fields...



p.s. that makes me think of an old psychology joke one of my psychology teachers told us:

Someone has incontinence problems and keeps shitting in his pants. The 3 schools of psychology would have the following solutions:

Psychiatry: You won't stop shitting your pants, but you'll understand why you do it.
Behaviorism: You'll stop shitting your pants, but you'll never know why you did it in the first place.
Humanism: You won't stop shitting your pants, you'll never know why you did it in the first place, but at least you'll be comfortable wallowing in your shit.

Badum-pish...

[Brynja]

You beat is savagly with a bat.

Barring that I find exercise, proper sleep and eating do help.

Spikey can be right about meds but do talk to the doctor first.

[Varaj]

Proper sleep patterns is good advise no matter what.

I would also recommend cognitive therapy and meds if recommended by a doctor. I also suggest looking at meds like you might look at a crutches after a leg injury. They will help but without other therapy you will end up being dependent on the crutches.